Refusal
by FlamesOfRedemption
Summary: Roxas was never supposed to exist. Anyone would agree on that. But one person has the power to take his existence away. His name starts with an S.
1. Memory's Skyscraper

**AN: Hi guys! This is my first fanfiction. I'm young, so don't be that harsh, lol. Enjoy. Heh.**

Roxas stumbled onto the cold ground of a place that he did not know. He looked up at the towering skyscraper above him, neon lights flashing. For a moment, he did not know what this place was, but then the memory of Riku went through his mind.

_The Neoshadows swarmed Roxas, face hidden by his cloak. Drawing two keyblades,he twirled them in front of him and started to attack the heartless. In a matter of time, the heartless were gone._

_Roxas turned his gaze upward, now looking at the boy atop the skyscraper. His white hair flowed smoothly behind him, seemingly seeing everything despite his blindfold._

_The Nobody ran up the skyscraper, dragging the two keyblades, both complete opposites, one light, and one dark. The Oblivion and the Oathkeeper. Surely these had to signify both sides of Sora; the light and the darkness. Of course, Roxas was the darkness, but he paid no attention to that._

_After all, darkness was always stronger than light._

_Throwing the Oblivion Keyblade up to Riku, he caught it flawlessly, seemingly meaning he had given himself up. Riku jumped down, and they passed each other across the screens of light on the skyscraper, sparks seeming to emanate from the white-haired boy despite the mask._

_They landed on the ground again, back to back, as more heartless appeared around them. With great grace, the duo defeated the monsters easily. Turning on each other now, they struck each other's weapons once before seperating._

_A quick exchange followed, and for a moment, it seemed like Riku was overpowering the boy, but it was just a false window. The cloaked boy pushed the darkness off of the light with great force, sending Riku to the ground. _

_Relaxing, Number XIII walked towards the silver-haired boy, who was on the ground._

"_Why?" the silver-haired boy shouted. "Why do you have the keyblade?"_

_Roxas moved his Oathkeeper up to his face, contemplating it. He then swung it to the side, uttering a mighty "Shut up!" the mother of all silencers, second only to the father, which was "Shut the fuck up!" Alas, Square Enix does not like cursing._

_A final swing from the cloaked boy, but deflected by Riku. The recoil sent Roxas flying to the ground. Unconscious, the boy's hood had fallen, now revealing his gravity-defying blond hair, seemingly like a certain Somebody._

_Riku held up his keyblade, like he was going to spear the boy through the heart, and throws it. However, it impaled itself not in the boy, but in the ground next to him._

_Staring at the boy longingly, the silver-haired boy uttered a strangled "What?" as the blond woke up, gripping the dark keyblade next to him as a means of supporting himself._

_Filled with anger, Roxas swung horizontally at Riku, who jumps out of the way. A head-on charge followed, and Riku shot a ball of aura from his palm in an attempt to stop the blond. It collided with Number XIII, but he pulled through unscathed, and continued his assault. Riku dodged every one, finally jumping out of reach again._

"_Stop fooling around!" Sora's Nobody said._

_Riku pauses, and then said, "What's wrong, Sora? Are you done already? Pretty pathetic."_

_In a attempt to regain the upper hand, Roxas shouted, "What are you talking about? You're the one who's losing!"_

_The boy holds a hand up to his mouth, since Sora had somehow spoken out through him._

"_You really are his Nobody... I guess I have to trust DiZ." Riku said amusingly._

"_What are you talking about? I'm myself! I'm me!" Roxas said, drawing the Oathkeeper in his other hand._

_Roxas charges, missing on the first hit, but hitting the silver-haired boy. He falls to his knees, and Roxas said, "You can't beat me, no matter how much you try!"_

"_I guess so..." Riku said, panting. "Looks like I have to do it."_

"_Do what?" Roxas said, surprised._

"_The power sitting in my heart..." Riku said, rising. "The power supressed by my heart..."_

_Riku took off his blindfold. "If I were to be someone else..."_

_A blood-curling scream came from Riku, dark pillars forming around him and himself._

_The dark pillars disappeared, revealing Riku now turned into Xehanort's Heartless. He teleported up to Roxas, the Guardian now crushing his shoulders and lifting him up into the air. Roxas went limp, dropping the keyblades in a flash of light and darkness._

"_The power of darkness," Riku said simply._

Roxas sat down on the steps when the whole skyscraper shook. Drawing his twin keyblades instinctively, he looked around to see where the rumbling had come from.

"There you are, Roxas," a voice said, the tone cold, but the voice warm.

Roxas turned around slowly to see a familiar brunette with blue eyes like his own, holding a giant key.

"Why don't you make the right choice here, Roxas? Together we can be more powerful."

"I will NEVER join with you!" Roxas shouted.

Sora sighed, materializing a golden key with a silver hilt from his free hand. Roxas gasped.

"No..." he breathed.

Sora just smiled and disappeared. Roxas whipped his head around, trying to find where the keyblade master had gone. He looked up. Sora was on the top of the skyscraper. Roxas, not wanting to fight, turned in the opposite direction and ran.

"Now, now, Roxas," Sora chuckled, and threw his keyblade. The blond heard a slicing sound behind him and blocked it with his weapon. The keyblade fell to the ground and came back to Sora's hand. The brunette jumped down from Memory's Skyscraper, swinging his blade at Roxas.

Roxas dodged safely out of harm's way. However, when Sora hit the ground, he was not simply Sora anymore. The boy had turned completely black, save for two yellow circles on his face. Darkness trailed behind him. Roxas had seen Sora in this form before, however, one thing was different.

A black shape sprouted from Sora's hand and slowly changed into a giant key. It had an odd shape, impossible to define, except Roxas knew that it was deadly.

Sora lunged at Roxas, the dark blade spinning in his hand, and a exchange of blows ensued. This was not like the normal Sora; the beast's movements were somewhat like a wolf's; more feral, and more aggressive.

Finally, the two split, jumping to opposite sides. A strange transformation began to befall Sora. His eyes turned black, temporarily making his figure a blot of oblivion. Then a flash of light. Sora's Anti Form had changed into a complete opposite. The eyes were black, the skin white, and white light trailed behind Sora. The strange keyblade had also turned completely white.

Keyblade clashed against keyblade as the two dueled. _This_ Sora fought in a more controlled way. No movement was wasted, no extra energy used. As Roxas started to get weary, Sora stayed full of energy. Finally, Roxas had no choice but to run. As Roxas ran, Sora ran in front of him.

Tired from this battle, Roxas jumped over Sora and hit him in the back of the head. He crumpled instantly, reverting to his original form. On his knees, Sora grasped at the air, trying to get ahold of something while Roxas watched, alert. If he let his guard down now, he could die.

The something that Sora was trying to claim came into contact with his hand, and then with Roxas's head. Roxas was the one that fell this time. Sora's wild grin was the last thing he saw before fading into oblivion.

…**Do you like it? **


	2. On The Inside

**AN: Hi again, FlamesOfRedemption here. This chapter might get a bit weird. Review! And not just like "good," actually tell me what's good and what's bad. I ADDED SOME PARTS TO THIS CHAPTER, IT WAS UPDATED! Thanks to Blu Bearry!**

Roxas awoke in a dark void. He could see nothing, He could hear nothing, feel nothing, smell nothing. He could only think about why Sora was so desperate to merge with him. _I'm weak,_ he thought, _so why merge with me when I'm going to drag you down?_

Suddenly, Roxas realized the true magnitude of the situation. He was in a dark void. Sora had knocked him out. And what did Sora want to do with Roxas?

Roxas let out a strangled cry. So Sora had finally done it. At that fateful moment in The World That Never Was, when Roxas had ran away, fearing that he would have lost his free will. He had tried to take Namine with him, too. But she had merged with Kairi. By force. Who would have known that such a girl would have such an evil heart inside of her? Not Namine. She was gone because of her.

And now Roxas had merged with Sora. No more decisions. Just to live here for the remainder of his life, or until Sora died.

No.

He would not accept this.

Roxas stood and tried to summon the keyblade, but to no avail. _Ah,_ Roxas noticed, _Sora must have taken that power away when he merged with me._

"_SORA!"_ Roxas shouted angrily, "_LET ME OUT!"_

A deep chuckle rang through the empty void. Which elevated to a giggle. And then a laugh. Then a hearty laugh. Then a laugh of malice. Finally, it elevated to hysterics. An embodiment of Sora appeared before the blond-haired boy. "Roxas," Sora said, still gasping for air, "You don't think that I went through all of this trouble to capture you _just_ to let you go, did I? That would be horribly idiotic. Just like Namine."

Roxas grinded his teeth together. "You. Let. Me. Out. Or I will-"

"Or what?" Sora asked, amused. "You'll bash my brains out with my _own_ weapon? Oh, stop it. You can't even use the keyblade now. Even if you manage to escape, what will you do? Nothing? It's better to stay here, where it's safe, and I won't try and get you."

A tear slid down Roxas's cheek. He quickly wiped it away with his sleeve.

"Aww," Sora said, "Wittle Woxas is crying. Do you want me to get you your bottle, wittle Woxas? I hate to remind you, but you don't have feelings. You don't even have a heart. Hell, you don't even have a mother."

Screaming with rage, Roxas charged at Sora, who simply blocked his fist before it entered his head. "Seriously," Sora muttered, "I wonder why I bothered to merge with you. If you weren't my other half, I would have killed you on the spot."

And with that, Sora disappeared. Howling with sadness, Roxas cried his nonexistent heart out. Tears spilled down his cheeks and onto the cold, hard ground of the void.

Suddenly, a ball of light appeared in front of Roxas. Taken by surprise, he jumped back, uttering a startled yelp. The ball slowly floated towards him and entered his chest. Roxas reeled back, expecting great pain, but was instead met with a strange feeling of warmth. Emotions, real, genuine emotions, flowed to his extremities and to the tips of his toes.

Happiness, euphoria, success, and a mix of positive emotions flowed into him, giving Roxas an intense sense of peace and happiness. But with happiness comes sorrow. Like darkness without light.

Sadness, hunger, sorrow, and pain came into Roxas, along with other feelings. He screamed in pain, the good inside him trying to battle the bad. The light and the darkness. Positive against negative. Darkness threatened to pull him in, but every time it did, the light pulled him back.

Pain ripped Roxas apart. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain drew back, leaving less and less hurt. He was comforted by happy emotions after this, but his euphoria did not last long. An invisible force pulled at Roxas, dragging him upwards towards the ceiling of this void. It was solid, though, but Roxas broke through.

The next thing he knew, he was looking at Sora at Memory's Skyscraper. Sora was on all fours, gasping in pain. Blood and vomit shot out of his mouth, and he clutched his chest in agony.

"You bastard!" Sora said, "You...what did you do to me?"

Roxas just stared in stunned silence, staring at Sora as he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Then he realized what he had done. The emotions, the pain. The happiness, the sadness. But the emotions weren't complete. No, not in the slightest. But he knew what he had done.

Roxas had stolen half of Sora's heart.

**AN: Sorry this chappy is so short. D: REVIEW!**


	3. Savior

**OMG, I haven't updated for THREE MONTHS. I'm soooo sorry. I promise I'll update more often... If I can. Heheh... Enjoy!**

**Oh, and special thanks to Tears of Eternal Darkness, sorry, I was eager to update, so I didn't send this to you.**

How he knew? He had no idea. It sounded like some cheesy line from an old movie.

Roxas could feel guilt. True guilt. It struck him like a hammer. _Why should I be feeling guilty for this... monster? _He wondered. _All along, he's been trying... to absorb me, to destroy, to..._

_Kill me._

The realization of this fact brought Roxas to his knees. He doubled over, retching. Was it because of his newfound emotions that he felt this? Was it because of Sora's heart that this was happening?

No.

_I wasn't even supposed to exist in the first place. I'm a Nobody, _Roxas thought,_ Nobody should accept me. Sora is right in trying to absorb me. I should just..._

Roxas stared at the unconscious body before him. The brunette hair, spikes arranged so orderly, just like his own blond hair. The one who had a heart. His Other. The one who actually belonged.

"_Nobody would miss me."_

The words that were spoken when he had left the Organization. And it was true; he knew every word was true. All along, he was never supposed to exist. Sure, Axel had said he would miss him. But that meant nothing. Axel didn't have a heart...

Roxas's thoughts were interrupted when a giant metal key flew at him out of nowhere. Catching the hilt, Roxas's eyes wandered back to the spot where Sora had fainted.

He wasn't there.

In a flash of light, the Keyblade disappeared from Roxas's hand. He swiveled his head around, trying to summon his own weapon, but nothing happened. He tried again, this time harder.

Still nothing. Another attempt. Nothing. Nothing. Again, nothing.

Roxas fell to his knees for the second time. Utter despair seized him. The Keyblade flew at him a second time, and he didn't try to dodge it. Not even to catch it. He didn't belong in this world, anyways, so what loss would his death bring?

_Clang._

The sound of metal hitting the ground. A chuckle resonated from in front of Roxas. He looked up.

Red hair. Random spikes. A tall body. Flaming chakrams spinning in his palms. A black coat. For a moment, Roxas thought that it was another enemy, come to torment him. Then realization struck him.

"Axel?"

"I see you've got it memorized."

A wave of relief flowed through Roxas. Not fake relief; true, deep relief. Real emotions.

Axel picked up the Keyblade. "I've seen this thing before," he said. "it's pretty heavy."

A flash of light. "Ooh, flashy. It disappears in a big flash. Gee, is that all it can do? Nothing like my spiky, flaming wheels."

"Shut up!" Sora roared. Seemingly appearing out of thin air, he struck at Axel with amazing speed. With relative ease, Axel blocked it. "God, you're weak. Are you sure you're really Roxas's Somebody?"

Sora struck at Axel again. And again. Pretty soon, Axel was being struck at with a flurry of attacks, which were all blocked.

Axel yawned. "I do say, swinging around a big metal key is pretty impractical. Looks stupid too. Right, Roxas?"

Roxas shot a glare at Axel.

"Oh yeah. Sorry."

"DAMMIT! _Why won't you die?"_ Sora shouted with rage.

"You know what? You can get out of my face."

An explosion of flame soon followed after that comment and Sora was sent flying. However, that didn't faze him. Sora soon came back, with a three-foot key crackling with electricity. Sora took a giant swing at Axel, who, again blocked it.

"_Youch!_ That stung a little." Axel grumbled. "you're a persistent little bugger, aren't you?."

Sora blinked. "How- but- that hit had- what-"

"Not so cocky now, are you?" Axel said, and struck Sora in the stomach. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Roxas looked up at the man in shock. "How- how did you..."

"Easy. I just hit him a lot of times. Isn't that how you knock someone out?"

"No, I meant... ah, forget it."

Axel suddenly turned serious. "Are you okay, Roxas?"

That's when Roxas fainted.

**Open-ended, right? LOL.**


	4. His Best Friend

**HOORAY! Supremely-fast update! R&R, please, and Axel will give you a flaming wheel.**

**In the gut. Cough. Enjoy!**

A black abyss. Darkness.

Roxas's dreams always started like this. He was a Nobody, right? Nobodies never dream; that would imply that they had a heart and feelings.

Wrong.

Nobodies do dream. In fact, Nobodies do have feelings. They don't need hearts to have feelings. Feelings are feelings, heart-originating or not. They are only fooling themselves when they say they cannot feel.

However, not having a heart, Nobodies have a sort of a handicap on their feelings; hence; they themselves cannot feel the deep emotions of people with hearts.

Oh dear. I've gotten quite off-topic, haven't I? Where were we? Ah, the dream.

For one, Roxas usually dreamed of Sora. But since the escape from The World That Never Was, they were gone. Poof. Just like that.

Instead, Roxas had forged new memories. Memories of his own. Of Xion, Axel, the Organization, all sorts of things. Sure, there were still Sora's memories inside him; tucked into a little corner of his mind, while his own memories reigned dominant.

It's like Roxas had become... simply his own person. With half of Sora's heart, he could be a new person. Forget all about Sora for a moment, and how he strives to merge with Roxas.

The days Roxas spent in the Organization. All of them. They became repetitive, eventually burning away most traces of Sora. Actually, if Sora were to merge with Roxas another time, he wouldn't have half of the memories that he originally had.

Now Roxas dreams of his days in the Organization. About Xemnas, the suppressive mastermind. Kingdom Hearts- the seashell. No more of Kairi, Riku, or the Islands; he had his own memories to worry about.

Except his dreams aren't as elaborate as those of Sora's.

Only flashes of Xion come by; fragments, rare ones at that. Axel has a dominant hand in Roxas's dreams. Roxas dreams of the clock tower, of the ice cream, though he's beginning to become sick of it- Nearly 200 or 300 days of eating the same thing really tires a Nobody out.

This time, it was a nightmare.

"_Did you really think you could run from _me_? Such a silly, boy, Roxas."_

_Sora drew his weapon. "If you can't use this-" he gestured to the key- "you're _useless!_"_

_The brunette swung his weapon at the defenseless blond. Blue eyes met blue, and the dream went up in darkness._

"_Wah!_"

Roxas awoke with a start. The dream- no, the nightmare- had seemed so _real _somehow. Was this what was going to happen if he kept going like this? Would Sora eventually overcome him?

No- he had Axel. Axel could beat Sora one time; Roxas was sure he could beat him again.

Wait a second- where was he? He was lying on a bed; bedsheets red. The mattress cover was red. The table next to him was red. The walls- also red. What color was the carpeting? You got it- red.

_Bloody hell,_ Roxas thought, _Somebody was murdered in here!_

It sure as "bloody hell" looked like it. Everything was red. Red, everywhere. Roxas screamed and pushed open the – red – door, and ran through the doorway into a – thankfully – white room.

"_Somebody help!"_ Roxas exclaimed. "_There's been a murder in that room!_"

"You're pretty daft, Roxas, to not know your best friend's favorite color. I mean, it's in my hair and on my flaming wheels." a voice said from behind.

Roxas turned around slowly. Surely enough, everything about this tall man was red. His hair was red. Everything else was black, though. Definitely looked like the type of man to commit murder. Wait a second...

"Axel?" Roxas said for the second time.

"I'm hurt, you know. You don't even know my favorite color. Seems like my name is the only thing you have memorized." Axel started to break down into false tears. He made a huge deal about it, too, with the whole loud sobbing maneuver.

Roxas continued to stare at Axel in silence. Axel regained his composure and stared him down.

After a full minute, Axel said, "Gee, have you turned back into a zombie? Now I'll have to go through all of those missions again, and trust me, Xemnas doesn't exactly love me right now."

Roxas simply walked away.

"Roxas, what in blazes is wrong with you today? It's like you've turned the clock back to day 1. You know, doing the time warp and all that." Axel exclaimed.

"You want to know what's wrong, Axel?" Roxas inquired.

"Oh, no, I just inquired because I really like prying into other people's privacy," Axel replied sarcastically.

"Really?"

"No, you zombie! Now tell me what's wrong!"

"Well, there's a crazy brunette that wants to absorb me. He did, but then I stole half of his heart." Roxas said warily.

Axel blinked. "You mean that weak little sh -"

"Yes, yes, him."

"Oh. Funny story, actually. There's a crazy guy that looks just like me that's chasing me. Has a weird scarf and everything. Throws these weird frisbees at me. His name is Lay-uh or something? And there's this weird guy with blue hair that looks _exactly_ like a bossy person we know."

"Um, wait a second. Did you say frisbees?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, but they're not as cool as my flaming wheels."

Suddenly, the wall of the home exploded and a head with spiky, red hair was seed looking through the hole. "Aw, man!" Axel said, "I'll have to hire a carpenter to fix that! And I hate cold!"

"There you are, Axel!" the odd boy said. "Now die!"

The odd boy threw an odd disc that had spikes at the end and a flame with a face on it. Axel grabbed Roxas and jumped out of the way, behind a table that had fallen.

"Remember that guy who throws weird frisbees at me?" Axel shouted.

"Yeah?"

"That's him! That weird Lay-uh guy!"

"It's pronounced 'Lea', you dolt!" the odd boy shouted.

**Whoo, cliffhanger. It's LEA! YAYYYY.**

**No gay undertones, now, perverted yaoi girls. **


	5. Reclamation

**Ohaiguys. I'm on a ROLL! Another chapter! R&R, enjoy! Again; no gay undertones. Heheheh...**

Axel stood up. "When are you going to give up? It's like everyone suddenly decided to turn on their Nobodies."

Lea chuckled. "It doesn't matter what my motives are. You know when we all turned into heartless and you guys were created? Someone led us out of the Realm of Darkness and we became ourselves again, minus our Nobodies. He was pretty weird, with the brown spiky hair and all that, but I guess I can't talk. I mean, look at mine," Lea gestured to his hair, "but all you have to know is that you're going to become a part of me, and I'm going to become whole again."

"Pervert," Axel grumbled, and lunged at his Somebody. In a burst of flame, two chakrams appeared in Axel's hands, spinning wildly, and he vanished in a flash of red.

Lea ran a hand through his red spikes. "He's gone," Lea sighed, "well, I guess I better go home then." The boy turned around and started walking out the hole in the wall.

Axel reappeared once Lea had gone. "That was odd," he said, "normally he doesn't give up that easily." Once that was said, a familiar redheaded boy walked through the destroyed wall. "Hey, I think I'm missing a fris... Axel! There you are!"

Lea drew more frisbees from seemingly nowhere into his hands.

"Seriously, Lea," Axel shouted, "Do you just pull those out of your ass? I mean, if I destroy one, you'll just pull another one out."

"At least I don't swing around idiotic _flaming wheels_." Lea taunted.

A vein throbbed on Axel's forehead. "At least I can set mine on fire."

"_Do you want to die, boy?_" Lea said menacingly. His face was slowly turning red.

"Well, that depends," Axel mused, "can you kill me with those frisbees? Wait, no, don't touch me with them, they come from your ass."

"_Shut up!"_ Lea roared, and lunged at Axel. Swinging his weapons madly, he attacked Axel with a barrage of blows. Circles were met with more circles, each not gaining the upper hand.

"Seriously, Lea," Axel said, "Are these frisbees made out of cheap plastic? I mean, seriously. These things are so light I could block them with my eyes closed."

That only made Lea angrier. _"Go die!_" Lea screamed, and shortly after that, a huge explosion of flame made the room shake. It was so bright that Roxas had to look away. When he turned his gaze back to the spot where the two were battling, they had vanished.

"Axel...?" Roxas wondered. "Where are you?"

No answer.

"_Axel! This isn't funny!_" Roxas shouted angrily.

Still no answer.

"_How am I supposed to defend myself against that brown-haired maniac?"_ Roxas screamed. He couldn't even use they Keyblade anymore, and he had no way to attack anyone nor defend against anyone who might attack him.

"That's a good question, Roxas," A voice said from behind him, "but you were doomed from the start."

Fear sliced through the blond like a sword. _Not him,_ Roxas thought, _please, not him. _Roxas turned around slowly. The world slowed down.

It was Sora.

"Why, Roxas," he said, "that was quite a pathetic outburst right there. I always pictured you as weak, but this brought the mental imagery to new extremes."

A strike to the small of Roxas's back brought him to his knees. Bile forced its way up his throat.

"You see, Roxas, after that little incident with your little redhead friend, I realized something. If I just absorb you painlessly, you'll just get out again. And neither of us want that, do we, now?"

Sora walked slowly towards Roxas. "You see, if I want you to _stay_ inside of me, I'll have to make you suffer like the dog you are."

A kick to the chin. Roxas fell to the floor. _Please, _Roxas thought, _let me die now. I don't want to be inside him again._

"So you're going to kill me?" Roxas spat, spitting blood from his mouth.

Sora laughed. "If I killed you now," he said, "how would that be fun?"

He squatted down, face inches away from Roxas's. "No," he said, "I'm not going to kill you. But I'm going to come very close."

A kick to the gut made Roxas yell in pain. Stars swam in his field of vision. How nice it would be to just lay here and die. Sora had said it himself; what use would he be dead?

"Do you remember Namine?" Sora said icily. "The witch who toyed with my memory?"

_Oh no, _Roxas thought, _if he did anything to Namine... it wasn't her fault. She was forced to do that to him._

"Sora, she was forced to do that to your memory -"

"I killed her."

Roxas's body felt like it had imploded. His back felt like it was going to break; his head felt like it was going to explode and blow his brains everywhere. "Why-"

"Did I kill her?" Sora finished for him. "Simple. She played with my memory. I killed her. Is that too hard for you to understand? You should have heard her. She screamed like a pig; begged me not to kill her. It didn't bother me."

Rage manifested itself inside Roxas. The heart that he now had inside of him pushed out anger. He had felt anger before; but not to this extent. He screamed out in rage, standing up and throwing a fist at Sora. It was stopped before it could make contact with the brunette's face.

"Tsk, tsk, Roxas," Sora laughed, "is that the best you can do? You can't use the Keyblade anymore, so you try to punch me? _Pathetic."_

Sora squeezed his wrist. Pain shot up Roxas's arm. "No, don't -"

"Break your wrist? If I do remember, this is the arm you use the Keyblade with, isn't it? You don't have any use for it anymore, do you?"

"_Stop finishing my sentences!" _Roxas roared, and in his left hand, a Keyblade with a flame pattern appeared. The blade was made up of a swirling flame pattern, and an open circle was at the end. Where the hilt connected to the blade was a pattern similar to what was on Lea's frisbees. The guard was circular and black, and the weapon was overall short.

_Frolic Flame,_ Roxas thought, not knowing how he knew the name of it, and struck at the brunette boy.

**Does anyone know where Frolic Flame came from? If you do, leave a review or PM me and tell me. Hey, while you're at it, review this chapter.**


	6. The Evil Man

**Ohai again, guys. Still, nobody knows where Frolic Flame comes from... XD.**

**Oh, I forgot to add this is previous chapters, but I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

**Thanks to TearsOfEternalDarkness and Blu Bearry! You guys are awesome.**

The weapon hit Sora in the stomach. As it connected, a burst of flame exploded from the blade. It seemed to be just like the impact of Axel's chakrams when it hit something. _Axel's chakrams... and Lea's frisbees... _

"What the hell is that?" Sora shouted, drawing his own Keyblade. Roxas just stared at the odd weapon in fascination. He held up the keychain to survey it. It looked like multiple flames on the chain that led to a bigger tongue of flame.

"What are you doing, gawking at it like that? If you're just going to stand frozen like that, I guess I'll just have to act first." With that, Sora lunged at Roxas. With a quick movement, Roxas blocked the blow with the shaft of the blade, igniting a flash of light that blinded the two boys.

When Roxas regained his vision, he saw that another key had appeared in his free hand. This one was lighter, and was held in a backwards grip. The hilt looked like one of the Kingdom Key, but slowly morphed into a black shaft that slightly curved outward. The teeth were of five, diminishing in size until it reached the lowermost one. Two black bars connected the teeth to the shaft.

_Wayward Wind, _a voice echoed in his mind.

_Who's there, _Roxas thought, _and what are you doing in my head?_

_Me? _the strange voice said, _I'm Ventus. Weird, you look exactly like me. What's that black coat your wearing?_

_Wait a second,_ Roxas thought, _how did you get inside my head?_

_I was always inside your head. I was just waiting for the right time to come out. Actually, I used to be inside Sora's head, but he never let me out. Why do you have my Keyblade?_

_Now's not the time for that! _Roxas yelled at Ventus. _I've got a real situation on my hands!_

_Yeah, yeah. No need to yell. Also, you don't hold Frolic Flame like that. You hold it backwards. Same goes for Wayward Wind. So, yeah. Just try that, and you'll be fine. Bye._

_Wait! _Roxas thought. _Ventus? Ventus! Aw, great, he's gone._

"Are you done staring into space?" Sora asked, "Because I _really_ want to attack you right now."

"Then why didn't you, when you had the chance?"

"You know what? Shut up," Sora said, and attacked for the second time. In addition to a Kingdom Key, Sora was also holding something that looked exactly like it, but with... a silver handle and a golden blade.

Wait.

Silver handle... and golden blade.

The King!

As if reading his mind, Sora said, "A talking mouse isn't real obstacle to overcome. Sure, he's the king and all, but once you get past that facade, he's pathetic."

With that, Sora threw a keyblade at Roxas. This was easily blocked, but unbeknownst to Roxas, Sora had yet again disappeared with incredible speed.

_Great,_ Roxas thought, _this again._

_Hey, Roxas, _Ventus said, y_ou do realize that you can do that too. I myself am a quick fellow, if I do say so myself._

_So what do I do? Do I just run?_

_Um, yeah. Isn't that how you always do it?_

_Alright then..._

Roxas started to run in a circular motion. Suddenly, he could see Sora. He seemed to also be running, but seemed a bit more tired.

Suddenly, Sora stopped in surprise. "How did he..."

Roxas took a quick dash to Sora's rear. "Do that?" he said, and struck the brunette in the back. Sora jumped out of the way before Roxas could deal any more damage. He appeared to be unaffacted by the attack, but the blond could see the pain in those blue eyes.

A great spout of anger coursed its way through Roxas. This person had done so much to him. Taken away everything. Now he had the chance to kill him. To destroy him. To make him suffer.

Just like he did to Namine.

A scream forced its way up Roxas's throat. Not a scream of pain, nor of suffering. Nothing like that. This was a scream of anger, as one utters before something dastardly happens. In a flash of instinct, Roxas brought the two keys together.

First, a burst of flame. Second, a gust of wind. For a fleeting moment, the two blades broke apart, one white, and one dark. Then, as if from a gravitational pull, the two brought themselves back together. A flash of light, a blaze of darkness.

Then, one.

Black and white. A black guard. Dashes of silver everywhere. A demon's wing as the blade.

_Two Become One,_ Ventus whispered in Roxas's mind.

"_Shut up, Ventus!" _Roxas roared, and lunged for Sora. The image of his face was burned into his memory. The evil man. No longer the innocent hero of the Keyblade. A murderer.

"Roxas!"

A gloved hand grasped his shoulder, stopping the boy in his tracks. Annoyance coursing through him, Roxas turned around to see a familiar face. Deep blue eyes, and red hair.

"Roxas..."

"Axel, let me go! I'm trying to kill him! He's done so much to me, put me through so much pain, and now I can finally destroy him!" Roxas shouted.

"Roxas, if you kill him, you're going to die too! Don't you understand? You're his Nobody, you originated from him. He's your source of life!"

Roxas stopped struggling. "What did you say?"

"I said that if you kill him, you're going to also die."

"I don't care," Roxas said, turning back around, but Axel kept a firm hold on his shoulder.

"Let go, Axel!" Roxas shouted angrily, struggling to get out of his iron hold.

"Roxas, I can't let you do this!"

Roxas drew his Keyblade. "Let me go."

"No."

Roxas swung his Keyblade at Axel. It caught him on the side. Axel yelped in pain, but still didn't let go. Another strike to the side. Then another. And another. The grip on his arm didn't loosen. More strikes to his side. Finally, the grip on Roxas's arm disappeared altogether, and Axel fell to the ground.

Roxas turned back around.

Sora was gone.

**You just have to pick the worst time to start blubbering things out, do you, Ventus?**

**I'm kidding. Don't kill me.**


	7. Xigbar

**Sorry for the wait, I had a LOT of classes. Enjoy, and review.**

* * *

Roxas growled in frustration, and looked at the crumpled redhead. Suddenly, he felt guilty at what he had done to his best friend.

"Axel..?" he said, bending down. Axel groaned in response. Well, at least there was a reaction from him.

"Axel?" he repeated.

"Gah..." he said painfully. "You hit hard, for being so short."

"Yeah, well," Roxas shrugged, "I bet I can beat you anytime. Get it memorized," he said, tapping his forehead.

"Hey!" Axel shouted in mock outrage. "You stole my catch phrase!" he sat up. "Well, then I'll steal yours!"

"I don't have one," he said, chuckling to himself.

"Yes you do, it's..."

Axel thought for a moment.

"Guh!" he shouted.

"What's wrong? Did I really hit you that hard?"

"No," he said, laughing, "That's your catch phrase."

Roxas sat there for a moment, staring at Axel. Then he realized what he had meant.

He laughed. "I have a right mind to knock you senseless again," he said.

As he said that, a man in a black cloak walked in. His hood was pulled up over his head, so, like always, his face seemed to be unrecognizable.

At the sight, Axel and Roxas both stood up immediately, Roxas drawing his two Keyblades, one appearing in a flash of light and the other appearing in a flash of darkness, and Axel his chakrams in a burst of flame.

"Whoa there," he said, "I don't want any trouble,"

"Then uncover your face!" Axel snarled. He had come to resent many people who wore an organization coat; they were probably enemies if they wore one.

"Alright, alright," he said, pulling down his hood. The first thing that Roxas noticed was an eyepatch over his right eye. He had multiple scars all over his face.

"Xigbar!" he roared, lunging for him, swinging his blade madly.

"Whoa there, kiddo," he said, amused, "calm down."

"Don't call me kiddo!" he said hotly, and began trying to attack him again. Xigbar drew an arrowgun in a purple flash of light and shot the blade out of his hand. It clattered to the floor, disappearing once it did.

Roxas shot a glare at Xigbar, and proceeded to keep attacking, this time with his fists.

"Roxas, calm down," Axel said, dragging him backwards by the back of his shirt. For the first time, he realized that he was wearing the same clothes he wore in the Simulated Twilight Town.

"Axel, let me go!" he shouted, struggling against the redhead's grip.

"So, Xigbar," Axel said, ignoring Roxas, "How did you get back? Didn't that Sora kid kill you?"

"So I thought," he said, scratching the back of his head with one of his weapons. "Somehow, I woke up one day in front of this mansion, apparently unscathed."

"Really?" Axel said, perplexed. "That happened to me, too."

"Would someone _care_ to fill me in on what's going on?" Roxas interrupted hotly, still struggling. Axel sighed and let him go.

"It means that somehow, every Nobody has come back, from the same place they were born, but retaining all of their memories."

Roxas pondered this for a moment. "But that doesn't explain why their Somebodies are back."

"Well, kiddo, think about it," Xigbar said, "how did that Sora kid become a person again after he turned into a heartless?"

"Well, Kairi hugged him, and it sort of happened."

"Hold on there," Axel interrupted, "how do you know that?"

Roxas shrugged. "I was watching."

"Then there must be only one explanation," Xigbar said, "somebody who loves them must have found them and they transformed back into their original selves,"

"Then why do they want to absorb us?" Roxas and Axel said in unison.

"Maybe they felt like they weren't complete when they turned human, and became angry that we took some of their power away." Xigbar shrugged. "It's just a theory. And anyways, not every Somebody could have people who loved them. I know Luxord and Demyx aren't being pursued, that's for sure."

"Xion!" Roxas shouted.

"Poppet?" Xigbar said, "What about her?"

"Well, if every Nobody is back, then Xion must be back too, right?" Roxas reasoned.

Axel chuckled. "You absorbed her, remember?" he said, tapping Roxas's chest.

"Oh..." Roxas said, crestfallen.

"So what do we do now?" Axel said.

Xigbar shrugged. "I don't know. We could either hide for the rest of our lives or kill them and be done with it."

"But if we kill out Somebodies, we'll die too, that's what I warned Roxas about when he was fighting Sora.

A twinge of anger found itself into Roxas's newly acquired heart when it thought of the brunette. "Bring it on," he growled.

"Whoa there, kiddo," Xigbar cautioned, "Do you remember last time you tried to fight that Sora kid? He'll annihilate you."

_Yeah, Roxas, _Ventus chided.

_Shut up, Ven! Are you always this annoying?_

_I don't know. Don't worry, once I get my body back, I'll be able to annoy you in person. Speaking of which, where _is _my body?_

_I don't know._

_Oh, and I noticed you weren't holding the keyblades in a backwards grip. Why not?_

_I don't know, it seems too hard for me. Anything else?_

_Oh, I wanted to try something on you._

_Go ahead, _Roxas replied.

In a flash of light, a third, yes, a _third_ keyblade appeared in front of Roxas, floating in front of him idly. He recognized this as the Two Become One. He looked at his hands, checking if his Oathkeeper and Oblivion were still there, since the Two Become One used both keyblades. They weren't there.

_Ven,_ Roxas thought, _how did you do that?_

_I don't know. I just willed your keyblades to combine themselves, and they did._

Roxas banished the Keyblade, and summoned his original ones. _Let me try,_ he thought.

In a flash of light, Two Become One appeared in place of his two. He grabbed it, and he felt its power flow into him.

_Cool, _he thought.

"Hey, Roxas?" Axel said, "Are you okay? You were standing there for ten minutes, staring into space, and then you did that weird thing."

"What? Oh." Roxas replied, noting that Xigbar had left.

_Tell them about me,_ Ventus urged.

_No, they'll think I'm crazy._

_Too bad!_

Roxas felt Ventus try and take control of his body. _Come on!_ he whined.

_Ugh, fine.._

Roxas finally relented. He felt Ventus take control of his limbs.

"Roxas, are you okay?" Axel asked.

"Roxas? No, I'm Ven." Roxas replied.

"Alright, did Sora hit you that hard?"

"No," Roxas said, "I'm sort of like a second person inside of him. I was originally inside Sora, though, so..." he shrugged.

At that exact moment, Xigbar walked in.

"Braig!" Roxas shouted, jumping back and summoning his keyblade, Wayward Wind.

"Hey," Xigbar said, noting the different weapon. "Only a specific person uses that. Wait, is that Ven in there?"

Suddenly, Roxas reclaimed control of his body, and Wayward Wind automatically disappeared. "It was," Roxas said, "He's another person inside of me. He started talking to me recently. It looks like he too had the keyblade before he lost his body."

"This is confusing," Axel said, yawning. "And I'm _tired._ I want to go to sleep."

"Not just yet," Xigbar said, "we've got company."

For unbeknownst to Axel, somebody else had appeared, and he looked a great deal like a young Xigbar.


	8. The Two Snipers

**DUN DUN DUNNN! Xigbar vesus Braig! The ending may surprise you. :P**

**Special thanks to the people at the Keyhole, for helping me and keeping me company. Whoops, I'm rambling. Rambling? As if. Alright, now here's what you came for. And also, Dem-Dem-Demyx, you DO love Zexion. **

* * *

As soon as the man walked in, Xigbar recognized him immediately. He had the same weapon as he did, except these were colored differently and had the heartless symbol on it. He knew him, since he had memories of him, and was about to shout out his name in anger. But Roxas beat him to it.

"Braig!" he shouted. So it wasn't Roxas; it was Ventus. Wayward Wind and Frolic Flame were held in his hands.

_Hey!_ Roxas shouted in his mind. _Let me out, Ven!_

_No!_

After that, Ventus tuned him out. Looking to his left and right quickly, he saw that Axel had drawn his chakrams and Xigbar his arrowguns.

"You're outmached, Braig," Xigbar growled.

Braig laughed. "Does it matter?" he said, seemingly amused. Then he noticed Ventus.

"Why, Ventus," he said, "I never thought that I would see you again,"

"Shut up!" he said, dashing towards him, blades bared. As soon as he swung, Braig disappeared into darkness, taking Xigbar with him.

Ventus said some words that are not to be repeated for the sake of sanity, and threw his weapons down in frustration.

"Damn it!"

* * *

Xigbar remembered aiming one of his arrowguns at Braig. The next thing he knew, the kiddo – no, _Ven_, had tried to attack Braig. Then... darkness.

Suddenly, Braig appeared in front of him and the environment uncovered itself. It was a rocky area, rough with rocks – obviously. However, there seemed to be an uncovered area, though the same color as the rocks, but significantly less bumpy. He and Braig were there.

"What do you want, Braig?" he growled.

Braig laughed. "Isn't it obvious?" he said, "I want you to become a part of me so that I may become complete."

Xigbar, much to Braig's surprise, chuckled to himself. "Very ironic," he mused.

"What are you rambling about, Nobody?" Braig shouted.

"Rambling? As if." Xigbar said. "All you have to know, _traitor_ – wait a second. You're not that Sora kid, thankfully. He was a pain," he said, shaking his head.

Suddenly, Braig shot several laser arrows at Xigbar. He easily sidestepped out of the way. "You're not one to talk, are you?" he grumbled.

Braig smirked, letting loose yet another volley of shots. This time, Xigbar could not avoid them, so most of them were blocked. Some found their way around his guard, causing some damage. Suddenly, he stopped shooting, and having the same weapon, Xigbar knew why.

"Reload..." Braig muttered, and Xigbar took this as his opportunity to start rapidly firing a volley a shots. These hit the other sniper head on, causing him to double over in pain.

Or so he thought.

As soon as Xigbar walked over to Braig to deal the finishing blow, he was hit upside the head with an arrowgun.

"Gah!" he said, crumpling to the floor. He didn't have time to touch the floor, for Braig aimed a kick at him that sent him sliding backwards.

Braig let loose a hysterical laugh. "You're weak, Xigbar."

Xigbar stood up painfully, still having the energy to laugh. "That's ironic," he said, "since I am you, so you're basically calling yourself weak."

Braig growled, aiming an arrowgun carefully at Xigbar before sending a laser arrow through his left hand.

Xigbar yelped in pain, but still managed to stay standing.

"Ha," Braig shouted, "you're finished, Xigbar!"

Alas, it seemed like he was. However, Braig had overlooked one thing.

Xigbar smirked. "It seems," he said, "that you have underestimated the power of magic."

As he said that, a green flower opened over his head, showering him in green light. Almost immediately, Xigbar felt the energy surge back into his limbs, his hand healing itself; though it was in no condition to keep using. It hung loosely at his side.

Taking this small and temporary window of time due to Braig's shock, Xigbar sent another barrage of shots at Braig. However, he recovered before the shots reached him, and he swiftly dodged all of them, then jumping into the air and counterattacking. Xigbar threw up a guard, but having only one hand to block with, the shots worked their way around the guard.

Xigbar was thrown back, hitting the rock face, the breath whooshing out of his lungs. He hit the ground hard, gasping for air as he struggled to get back up, instinctively using his left hand to support himself. This was a mistake, however, as this hand was injured.

A sharp spike of pain coursed its way up Xigbar's arm, and he fell back down, his arm crumpling to the ground. He lay there, powerless and out of energy. He didn't even have any more energy to throw up a Cure.

Braig laughed in triumphance. "I have you now," he said, aiming an arrowgun at Xigbar's back; once he was incapacitated, he could be absorbed. "You can't even magic yourself out of this."

Again, he had overlooked another thing. Magic is not the only healing element. Unbeknownst to Braig, Xigbar had slowly pulled out a potion from inside his coat. He swiftly threw it up with his remaining energy and jumped up, not even taking a shot using Braig's confusion as an advantage, like last time.

Instead, he resorted to brute force, slamming an arrowgun into the side of Braig's head, knocking him to the ground. Burning with rage, he stomped on Braig's stomach repeatedly, each time eliciting a groan of pain. Suddenly, Braig threw him off, sending another volley of arrows.

This time, Xigbar could not block them. He did not, however, want to share the same fate as last time, so he dodged it. As he did, he sent yet another barrage of arrows.

Braig laughed, throwing up a guard. "Did you think that would work on me? I use these weapons! I have much more experience than _you_. I know these weapons inside and out."

Xigbar growled. "The same could be said for yourself," he said, and shot out his hand.

Unsure of what was to come next, Braig tightened his guard. Suddenly, the bullets sped up, but just before they hit Braig's guard, they turned, making a semicircle around Braig and hitting his back.

"Gah!" he shouted, flying forward due to the strength of the arrows. As he reached Xigbar, he was stopped by an arrowgun, the tip of it stopping him at the chest.

"Dead," Xigbar said simply, before firing a single shot that pierced directly through Braig's chest.

Braig stumbled back. "Guh..." he said, "How could I lose to you? I have so much more experience than you -"

He paused, looking down at the dark stain blossoming across his shirt. He screamed, falling to the ground, unmoving. A short time after, his form slowly disappeared, fading into darkness.

Xigbar stood up triumphantly, glad that he had finally destroyed that son-of-a bitch.

Suddenly, a sharp pain forced its way through Xigbar's chest. It was a type of piercing pain, one that hurt for several hours after impact.

He had felt this feeling before.

It was at The World That Never Was, when he had fought that Sora kid. More specifically, _after_ he had fought him. He gasped as a white thorn started to radiate off of his skin. Then a black one.

He chuckled to himself. Although he had known this was going to happen, he couldn't help but be surprised.

"Good luck, kiddo," he said, before fading back into nothingness.


	9. Death

_Where's Braig and Xigbar?_ Roxas- no, _Ven_ – thought as his Keyblade clashed against another.

Axel had run off to who knows where, and this odd brunette had come in, trying to attack him. To Ven's surprise, he had a keyblade too.

Roxas was screaming something in his head, something about running away. As blade clashed against blade, he tuned Roxas out.

The brunette lunged at him, growling some unintelligible words.

When Ven held up his Keyblade in defense, the two met with a large _clang _that resounded throughout the entire home.

"What are you doing, Roxas?" the brunette growled.

Ven stayed silent, driving him back with a push. Why was that boy calling him Roxas? He wasn't Roxas, the other one was.

Realization struck. The brunette thought that he was Roxas because he looked exactly like him. That didn't explain why he was trying to kill him, though.

Ven took the offensive, lunging at the brunette. As he threw up the blade to protect himself, Ventus swiveled around to his back and executed a sharp blow to the small of his back.

"Gah!" the brunette said, stumbling forward. Taking this small window of opportunity, Ventus leaped forward and executed a swift combo before jumping back.

Smug with pride, Ventus grinned at the boy lying lifeless on the floor. He turned around and began to walk away. A ball of Dark Firaga hit him in the head, and he whipped around, cringing.

An evil grin was spread across the brunette's face, standing there as if he had not just been hit a couple of times. In fact, he seemed fine. In his prime, even.

Ven lunged for him once again, spinning his Keyblade idly behind him. He executed an overhead swing, but that was blocked by the other blade. Unbeknownst to Ven, the brunette had summoned another Keyblade and slashed at his stomach.

Ven was knocked back, heels scraping against the ground. When he finally came to a stop, he fell to his knees, clutching his stomach.

The part of the shirt that was covering his stomach was in tatters; his stomach itself was bleeding.

The brunette walked up to him, grinning, holding his keyblade high. He brought it down, about to deliver the final blow, when Ven used his remaining strength to block the blow. It was so strong that his guard almost broke, but he held on.

The brunette, eyes wide at what had just happened, took no notice when Ven's lips moved very slightly.

"Fire,"

A large flame blossomed out of the entire length of Ventus's Keyblade, knocking the brunette backwards.

While the boy was still stunned, Ventus whispered another spell.

"Cure," he said, and a white flower opened up above him, showering him in flower petals.

His energy regained, Ventus lunged once again.

However, this time was different. He disappeared in the blink of an eye, faster than even the brunette could go. A brief flash flew by as the brunette felt something slash across his leg.

"Gah!" he said, as he fell to one knee. Then a slash across one arm rendered it useless. A slash on the other leg brought him to his knees. Ventus reappeared above him, high in the air, keyblade held downwards. He brought it down at an astonishing speed, creating a shockwave that threw the brunette backwards.

Continuing his assault, Ventus lunged once more, but didn't even get close to the brunette before a large shockwave threw him back. It looked like a giant Reflect breaking.

It was so bright that Ven had to shield his eyes, stopping him in his tracks. When he looked back, the brunette's clothes had turned completely white; two Keyblades, one black and one white, had appeared and were slung behind his back.

However, the thing that caught his attention the most was the fact that his feet were not touching the ground. He seemed to radiate power, but Ventus did not back down. He had seen worse, like Vanitas. He shivered at the memory.

As quick as a bolt of lightning, the brunette disappeared; however, as fast as he was, Ventus could still see him. Relative to Ventus's speed, the brunette was actually very slow. To show him the true meaning of speed, Ven disappeared.

Suddenly, the brunette seemed to move in slow motion.

Something that Roxas said caught his attention.

_...he's Sora!_

This broke his concentration. Could this really be Sora? Actually, the more he looked at him, the more he recognized the evil boy that had kept him locked up all those years. He had grown; become taller; his face had changed.

He stopped. A big mistake.

Suddenly, Sora was in front of him, swinging his keyblades wildly. One hit knocked him into the air, but the assault did not stop there. A swift combo was unleashed, turning him this way and that, spinning him, twisting him, knocking him around.

Suddenly, Sora jumped into the air, coming back down like a corkscrew, throwing Ven to the ground.

It hurt too much to move. Who would have know that he had gotten so much stronger?

_Here,_ Roxas said, _let me help._

Ven willingly gave the body over to Roxas. However, instead of him taking over completely, they met at the middle; their power fusing into one.

Ven stood up slowly, his keyblade glowing with a blue light. Sora lunged at him, his blades spinning wildly, and Ventus swung at him. The moment the blade made impact with Sora's neck, several pillars of light shot out of the blade.

Sora was thrown back roughly, but did not have time to his the ground before another attack came his way. This time, he was thrown into the air, and a swift upper slash hit his back, sending him further into the air.

Several more strikes soon ensued; his body now glowing with a blue light. Pillars of light shot everywhere; the occasional flash here and there.

Ventus felt the power coursing through his veins; up here, this was his forte.

His keyblade became engulfed in Aero magic. He dove at Sora, keyblade held in front of him. This pushed him down, but Ventus was not going to let him go this easily. Several more of these attacks soon followed; it was like a Sonic Blade, instead in the air.

"Gah!" Sora screamed, his form long passed.

Feeling as if he should end this quickly, Ventus reappeared above Sora, his arm positioned as if he was about to throw the blade.

He did. A giant shockwave erupted when the blade met Sora's stomach, throwing him to the ground painfully. Even through all of that punishment, he still had the energy to stand up, though it was slow.

Ventus touched the ground lightly, summoning his keyblade back to him. In a fit of rage, he coated his keyblade in yet another Aero and sent it spinning wildly at Sora; this time also lengthened with a blade of blue light.

Sora held out his arms to protect himself, but to no avail.

_Psshk._

Sora stared in shock at the hilt of the blade protruding from his chest. He drew a long, pained breath, and uttered these words:

"You are foolish, Roxas," he said. "you do not know what will become of you if I disappear."

He laughed his final laugh, and fell to the ground, lifeless and unmoving.

Ven felt a great triumphance at what he had just done.

_We did it, Roxas! _he thought with glee.

_Augh..._

_Roxas, what's wrong?_

_Ven, it hurts..._

_Roxas, what hurts? _he thought, panic creeping into his thoughts.

_Gah!_

Ven felt a sharp pain strike through his head. He fell to his knees, holding his head.

"Ahh," he said, gritting his teeth in pain.

_Ven!_ Roxas screamed, before his mind went blank.

Suddenly, Ven transformed. His keyblade armor reappeared on his shoulder and his original clothes had reappeared on his body.

The pain subsided.

_Roxas? _Ven shouted in his mind. _Roxas!_

There was no response.


	10. The Realm of Darkness

"Roxas!" Axel shouted.

Ven jerked awake. He was lying on a hard plane of dirt, and when he looked up, he saw trees. "Ugh..."

"Hey man, are you okay?"

"...Did you just call me... Roxas?" Ventus replied.

"Uh, yeah. Hey, where'd you get that weird shoulder thing?"

"I'm not Roxas, I'm Ventus," Ventus said.

Axel stared at him in surprise; he had already learned of Ventus's presence inside Roxas's body, but didn't know that he was able to take control of Roxas's body.

"Alright. Hey, can you bring Roxas out here? I need to talk to him."

Ventus sat in silence for a moment. He opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, but closed it. Finally, he spoke.

"I think... I think Roxas's isn't in this body anymore." he said.

"What do you mean?" Axel said, suddenly serious.

"I killed Sora, and Roxas just... disappeared.

Axel's eyes widened in shock and anger. "You _what_!"

Ventus nodded, mute with fear of what he would do.

Axel screamed, summoning a chakram and throwing it at a nearby tree. "You _idiot!_" he yelled, throwing the other chakram at him. It glanced off of the keyblade he threw in front of him.

"What!" Ventus shouted back, "What did I do!"

"If you kill a Nobody's Somebody," he growled, "the Nobody dies too."

Ventus's eyes widened in shock. He managed to get a very intelligent answer out.

"...what?"

"Didn't you hear me!" Axel shouted, making obscene hand motions.

Ventus fell to his knees, cradling his head in his hands. How could he do this? Roxas allowed him freedom, and he just took his life away from him.

Suddenly, a pain shot through his head, unconsciousness trying to claim him. This had not been the first time. He tried to fight against it, but it was so strong that he couldn't stay awake. He fell, hearing a faint "Ventus!" from Axel.

_Total darkness was all that penetrated his line of sight. He tried to move his limbs, but it was not his body to control. He was just a bystander, looking through the eyes of the actor._

_He walked. In the distance, he could see a beach. A dark beach. A multitude of rocks dotted the beach, and an ominous tree was set on the seashore._

_As he approached, he could see the shore more clearly. It seemed a great deal of events had happened here. Erosion should have washed away footprints, but it seemed the tide had not reached the two sets of feet and imprints of two bottoms._

_A stray piece of paper lay beside one of the sets of footprints, buried in sand. He reached to pick it up, brushing it off._

Thinking of you, wherever you are.

We pray for our sorrows to end,

And hope that our hearts will blend.

Now I will step forward to realize this wish.

And who knows?

Starting a new journey may not be so hard,

Or maybe it's already begun,

There are many worlds.

But they all share the same sky;

One sky,

One destiny.

_Chuckling to himself, he put the paper back down, walking even further towards the shore until his feet were submerged in the chilly water. The bystander could feel it all the same, his body or not._

_He bent down, looking at his reflection in the water. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Why, the bystander was looking at..._

_Himself._

"Roxas!" Ven shouted, waking from his slumber. Axel was holding him by the shoulders, shaking him.

"Wake up!" he shouted, not yet noticing that Ven's eyes were open.

"A-a-a-a-xel!" he yelled, pushing him away, "I'm awake, calm down."

Axel stayed silent, frozen in surprise.

"I just..." Ven continued, choosing his words carefully, "had some sort of _vision_. Roxas was on this beach. It was... really dark, and it had these odd rocks everywhere."

"The Dark Margin!" Axel gasped.

"...The what?" Ven said, tilting his head to one side.

"C'mon," Axel said, opening a dark corridor behind him. When Ventus didn't follow, Axel said, "Hurry!" and dragged him by the arm into the portal of darkness.

They emerged in the exact same beach as Ventus had seen in the dream.

"Roxas!" Axel shouted, running away and waving his arms. "Roxas!"

Ventus sighed, walking towards the water and putting his foot in the water. It was ice cold, so Ventus yelped and jumped out.

Suddenly, a fire spell leaped out of the darkness and threatened to set Ventus's shirt ablaze. Whipping out his Keyblade, he deflected the spell just before it made contact, breaking it apart in a blaze of red.

However, this spell was a strong one; the recoil sent Ventus further into the water, threatening to knock him over into the freezing liquid.

Regaining his footing, Ventus dashed towards the beach. When he reached there, he was hit with a barrage of thunderbolts.

"Gah!" Ventus yelped, feeling numbness spread through his limbs. He fell to the ground, Wayward Wind falling out of his hand and disappearing in a flash of light.

He gasped for air, struggling to get back up and summoning his Keyblade once again.

"Show yourself!" he yelled, obviously still hurt from the onslaught he had just received.

Suddenly, a blade flew at him out of nowhere, spinning wildly. He caught it by the blade, wincing when it bit into his hand, and thrust it back to whence it came. He heard it hit something.

Suddenly, a person came out of the shadows. She seemed feminine, but Ventus could not tell; darkness clouded his vision. The person swung their keyblade; sparks flew as it was deflected, glancing off of Ventus's keyblade. A counterattack soon followed, catching the person on the side, clanging against metal.

That was when Ventus realized that the person was wearing some sort of armor. Tapping the plate on his shoulder, armor engulfed his form, protecting him from any attack that he might encounter; not fully, but adequately enough.

He charged swiftly, metal clanking against the ground. Though the armor was heavy, it did not affect the boy's speed. He tried to summon a second Keyblade, but to no avail; that was when he realized that he no longer had two hearts inside of him.

Ventus reappeared behind the figure, striking at the back of the head. However, this was also blocked, effectively nullifying the blow. The figure counterattacked, stabbing at Ventus's stomach, knocking him back.

He clutched his stomach over the armor in pain after his had hit the ground. That was when Ventus realized that he still had an advantage; wind. He cast an Aero spell on both himself and his Keyblade, throwing the latter at the figure. It disappeared, moving too fast to be traced by the naked eye, and caught the figure on the arm, throwing them against a nearby rock.

The figure fell to the ground, helmet slipping off of their face. Ventus slowly walked up to the person, Keyblade bared in case they suddenly decided to spring to life again and strike when his guard was down.

When he got close enough, what he saw shocked him.

"Aqua?" he said, taking his helmet off.

Aqua opened her eyes wide enough so that they looked like giant grapefruits. "Ven!" she shouted, quickly standing up and reverting to her normal form. Ven did the same.

"Ven!" Aqua repeated, running to embrace him. When she did, Ven struggled against the tight grip she had.

"Let go!" he whined, which induced a laugh from the female.

"How did you get your body back?" she said, confused, after she had released him.

"Long story," Ventus said, before he was interrupted by a particular redhead.

"I can't... find... Roxas..." Axel said, tired beyond belief.

"Roxas?" Aqua questioned, even more perplexed.

"Basically," Ventus said, "Roxas is the person we're looking for. When I 'died', my heart went inside someone called Sora, but this Sora turned into a heartless, which created a Nobody. This Nobody is called Roxas, who stole some of Sora's heart, and my heart transferred to Roxas. The thing is, when I killed Sora, Roxas disappeared, and since I was the only heart left inside Roxas's body, I took his body."

"Um..." Aqua said, "this is a lot to take in. So if you got Roxas's body, then where's your original body?"

"I think... Roxas might have taken it, sort of like how my heart went to Sora, except my body was empty, so Roxas took it. I had a... vision... of Roxas here." Ventus said.

"Hey!" Axel interrupted, exasperated. "We still have to find my best friend! How do we find him now?"

Ventus thought about this for a moment. "Think about it," he said after a moment, "How did Sora find Riku?"

"You don't mean..." Axel said.

"Yes," Ventus said, "We have to search every single world for him. He could be anywhere, if he's not here."

"But wait," Aqua interrupted, "he can't form a dark corridor, so he couldn't escape from the Realm of Darkness, right? Since he has a heart now, if he tries to form a dark corridor, it would corrupt his heart."

"Good point," Ventus agreed, "But the Realm of Darkness is endless. How will we find him?"

"You're forgetting that I spent a while in here," Aqua said with a wicked grin.

And so it began.


	11. Burn, Baby

"Gah!"

Shadows swarmed Roxas as he fell to his knees, Oathkeeper falling out of his hand and disappearing in a flash of light. They had come out of nowhere, and seeing as this was the Realm of Darkness, they were more numerous than before. He could not Dual Wield like before because Ventus's heart was gone, which put him at a huge disadvantage.

At first, he thought that he could fight them all, but they didn't stop coming, and he became weary. Finally, one had struck at his only weapon, knocking the blade out of his hand.

Now, he felt helpless, doomed to die. Possibly to turn into a heartless, now that he had a heart. They came even closer, feral beasts whose only instinct was to consume. Consume and destroy.

He tried to summon the Keyblade back to him with no success. He simply did not have any energy left, and the atmosphere of this place made it even worse. Suddenly, something surged within him. A bright flash soon ensued, knocking the heartless away. Suddenly feeling a renewed strength, Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and began to fight. If he died, he would die fighting.

"Yah!" Roxas shouted, slashing one of the heartless, making it dissipate into a dark cloud. Their numbers were decimating. As he fought, he felt a sure confidence that he would survive in this hellish wasteland. As he swung his Keyblade for the last time, striking the last dark creature, he felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"Yeah!" he said, throwing the key into the air. As he did so, several giant heartless appeared out of nowhere. They had a heart-shaped imprint where their heart should have been and huge dreadlocks.

"...Shit." Roxas cursed, and threw himself into the heat of battle once again. Suddenly, a blade shaped like a devil's wing came out of nowhere, impaling itself into one of the heartless's heads, making it groan and fall, vanishing into darkness.

Roxas spun around, Keyblade at the ready. Silver hair. An organization coat, though he probably was not from the Organization.

"Need a hand?" Riku mused. Seeing as Roxas was already in a great deal of danger, this was used as a form of sarcasm. Roxas glared at him.

Riku chuckled. "Relax," he said, "an enemy of Sora is an friend of mine. We stopped being friends years ago."

Roxas stared at him for a moment. "Sora's dead," he said bluntly.

To his surprise, Riku laughed. "Serves him right, that son-of-a-bi –"

Before he could finish his sentence, the fist of a Darkside plowed into his back. "Gah!" he screamed, sliding across the ground before slowly coming to a stop.

"Riku!" Roxas screamed.

Riku slowly got up, his hair disheveled. He felt his head slowly as he stood up, a frown slowly making its way onto his face.

"My hair..." he whispered.

"Riku?" Roxas said warily, walking towards him.

"_You messed up my hair!_" Riku screamed, before lunging at the Darkside that had hit him, climbing up its arm and landing a well placed strike on the back of its neck, making it fall to the ground, defeated. He touched the ground nicely, trying to smooth out his hair with his hands.

"That'll teach you not to mess with my hair," he grumbled.

* * *

The three of them – Ventus, Aqua, and Axel – didn't get far before they were attacked again.

"Really?" Axel groaned as a ferocious creature with blood-red eyes lunged at Axel, eliciting a block with his chakrams. "Again?"

"Stay back," Aqua warned, holding out her hands to stop them from any attempt at an attack they would make as the creature jumped back, "I think it wants me."

"How would you know that?" Ventus hissed.

"I've seen it before," she said, and slowly inched towards the monster, crouching low, Keyblade at the ready. She had beaten this thing once; it wouldn't be a problem for her if it suddenly decided to turn hostile and attack again.

The creature roared, making Aqua flinch, stopping her in her tracks. Suddenly, it charged, making the blue-haired woman jump back. The creature kept going. Aqua cartwheeled out the way just in time, the creature's maw snapping shut where the blue-haired woman's head was just a few moments ago.

She jumped back to where the two men were, their weapons already at the ready. Axel spun his chakrams idly, seeming confident as always, whereas Ventus was holding Wayward Wind, an expression of worry contorting his face. He did not know if he had the necessary strength to be able to deal with this creature, which made his admiration for Aqua seem every bit greater.

Axel was the first to attack, coating his weapons in flame and chucking them at the creature. This was easily avoided by the swift creature, Axel uttering a curse as the flame sputtered into nonexistence and they flew back into his hands.

Ventus uttered a great battle cry and swiftly charged at the creature, blinking out of sight for a while before slamming his blade into the creature's side, making it roar in pain. The onslaught did not stop there; coating his Keyblade in Aero magic, he jumped up to an impossible height, coming down with the weight of a hammer on the backside of the creature. He jumped back, a smirk on his face.

Aqua composed herself before concentrating on a spell. Feeling an opening, the creature lunged at the woman, before being hit head-on with a blast of flame. The first time it had met her, the same thing had happened. The creature barely had time to retreat before several bolts of lightning lit up the surrounding area, paralyzing it momentarily.

Aqua took this window of opportunity to charge at the creature and land a well-placed blow on its underside, knocking it into the sky, before coating her Keyblade in ice and chucking it at the monster.

The creature roared, shaking off the frost that had gathered on its skin. It was _definitely_ angry now. It ran towards Aqua. Ventus pushed Aqua, who stood frozen, out of the way, baring his blade in an attempt to block the head of the ferocious beast. The impact nearly threw him off of his feet, but he held on.

"Hah!" he said, pushing the creature away with his Keyblade. He charged after it, disappearing once again when he came close. The creature roared, running in the direction Ventus had disappeared from. Luck was on its side, it seemed, and Ventus was knocked back. He hit a nearby rock, winded. He fell to the ground, his expression blank.

"Ven!" Aqua shouted, running to his aid.

"Hey!" Axel, said, annoyed, "keep your eyes on the enemy!"

He ran towards the beast, swinging his chakrams. One of them caught the beast on the side, knocking it back, before they returned to his hands. Frustrated that the creature was now out of range, he swiftly threw his chakrams once again, which made contact with it. Before his chakrams could make it back to his hands, however, he created a ball of flame and flung it at the creature.

"Burn, baby!" he shouted with glee, catching his weapons as the beast fell back, roaring. Suddenly, it seemed to regain its confidence and charged at Axel,

"Wah!" he shouted, getting pushed back by the beast. He hit the ground painfully, unmoving.

"Axel!" Ventus shouted, failing to wake Aqua. The beast suddenly charged at him, confident that this would be the final blow, when Ven blocked it. The creature was not to be pushed back again, however, and the boy's guard broke, knocking him back.

The creature now went for the blue-haired woman, raising a claw to impale the helpless woman.

"No!" Ventus screamed as the claw fell.

Suddenly, Aqua jarred awake, quickly gaining a perspective of the situation and drawing her Keyblade. She batted the creature's paw aside, performing a swift, two-handed overhead slash. It connected with the creature's face, but Aqua did not stop there.

She struck the creature on the side, knocking it to one side and slashed upwards, knocking the creature into the air. Aqua jumped, but did not perform a mad combo of slashes. Instead, she struck once, a swift slash that was not even seen. The creature fell to the ground, Aqua doing the same, landing lightly on her feet.

She gasped, falling forward. She was about to hit the ground when Ventus caught her.

"Ugh.." she said, rubbing her forehead as she straightened.

"Are you okay?" Ventus asked, concerned.

She nodded, and then her expression changed. "Axel!" she shouted, realizing that the redhead was sprawled out on the ground. She and Ventus scrambled to the redhead's side.

Axel groaned, opening his eyes and hoisting himself up on one elbow. "Ugh," he said as the other two breathed a sigh of relief, "that was some fall."

Axel then looked at Ven. "Roxas...?" he said, "Roxas! You're back!" he stood up, embracing Ventus in a tight hug.

Ventus blushed, embarassed, when Aqua intervened. "Axel..." she said, tapping the redhead on the shoulder, "that's not your friend,"

Axel's eyes widened as he held Ventus out at arm's length. He sighed, realizing that the statement was true and released the boy.

"Sorry about that," he said, scratching the back of his head. "It's just that you look so much like – "

He didn't have time to finish his sentence, for a heartless appeared out of nowhere, slashing at Ventus's head. He was instantly knocked unconscious and fell to the ground.

"Ven!" Axel and Aqua shouted in unison as they were swarmed by a massive mob of heartless, ranging in variety.

"You take care of your boyfriend," Axel shouted, "I'll get the heartless!" as he said this, he swung his weapons, driving a gap through the enemy's numbers. However, this gap was filled in as more heartless took the defeated heartless's place.

"Shit," he muttered, looking back at Aqua, who was trying to defend Ven's unconscious body from the attackers. A heartless clawed at his hand, threatening to knock the weapon out of it. Axel drove a chakram through it using his free hand, making it disappear.

Aqua, meanwhile, was still trying to fend off the heartless. She had already been weakened from the previous battle, so she could feel herself growing weaker by the moment. Suddenly, her Keyblade was knocked out of her hand, disappearing somewhere in the horde of blackness. She fell to the ground, spent, as heartless came closer and closer.

Axel had seen the previous scene as was filled with a growing sense of dread. Suddenly, he sighed. "This again?" he muttered, and without a second thought, let his chakrams drop to his sides.

Almost immediately, they became engulfed by flame. He held his hands at shoulder height, elbows pointed at a right angle, as the weapons circled him. He held his hands to his sides and curled up, finally extending his arms and letting out a fierce scream. Several pillars of flame burst out of the ground, combining into one as a bright flash of light lit up everything.

When he opened his eyes, the enemies were gone. He fell to the ground, spent. He felt as if he had done this before...

"_You're... fading away..." Sora said, kneeling at Axel's side._

_Axel chuckled. "Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean?" he laughed again. "Not that Nobodies actually _have _beings.. right?_"

_If anything, he felt a bit happy that he was fading away for a reason that was unclear to him. _

"_Anyway, I digress," he continued, "go, find Kairi. Oh.. almost forgot. Sorry for what I did to her." and he actually was sorry; he was under orders to do that to the helpless girl, not that he did it voluntarily._

"_When we find her, you can tell her that yourself." Sora replied. It was not the least bit rude; just rather hopeful. But what was this kid thinking? Here he was, fading away, and this kid wanted him to go find his girlfriend with him? Pssh._

"_Think I'll pass," he said, not wanting to sound rude in his final moments. He didn't want to leave this kid with a bad interpretation of him. "my heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." he chuckled to himself, as if he found that funny._

"_Axel... what were you trying to do?" Sora asked._

_Suddenly, he found his reason for doing all of this; the betrayal, everything. "I wanted to see Roxas," he replied, and Sora looked confused. That's right, he didn't know who Roxas was. _

"_He... was the only one I liked." he continued. "He made me feel... like a had a heart. It's kind of... funny." and truly, Roxas did make him feel like he had a heart. Many emotions that he thought that not even other members had felt made him happy. Roxas made him happy._

"_It's funny," Axel went on, "you make me feel... the same..."_

_Wait, what am I saying? This kid needs to find his girlfriend. "Kairi's in the castle dungeon," he said, "Now go," he said, using the last of his strength to open a dark corridor._

"_Axel..." Sora said as the redhead faded away._

Axel was faintly aware of a Roxas-like figure running towards him as he felt the life crawling out of him. He chuckled to himself. At least that other boy was okay.

Those were his final thoughts before fading away.


	12. Author's Note

Hey guys, FlamesOfRedemption here. I know I haven't updated in awhile, sorry. But due to writing my other story, this story will not be updated as much. It's not going on hiatus, per se, but updates will not be as frequent. Thanks for understanding! Anyways, while you're at it, check out my other story on my profile.


End file.
